For many, the holiday season can be an emotional time. This time of the year may bring back memories of loved ones lost, past hardships such as divorce, the incarceration of a parent or other traumatic events. Increasingly, teachers and school-based staff deal with the impact of mental health concerns in the classroom and in school.
To better equip staff our staff in dealing with such concerns, ACPS and the Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services have partnered to offer online youth suicide prevention training through Kognito.
The training, which is tailored to teachers and school-based staff, is an interactive simulation designed to prepare staff on how to engage youth who are experiencing psychological distress, including thoughts of suicide. Our school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers and school nurses have already completed this training and can be a resource if you have questions. This training is important for school-based staff because an administrator or member of the School Support Team may not always be present when a student is in crisis.
Here is an added incentive to take the training now:The school that has the highest percentage of certificates of completion |
The training is free to staff, should take about one hour to complete, and is available anytime, anywhere, from any internet-capable device.
The courses, which address issues in elementary, middle and high schools, train staff on how to:
- Recognize the common indicators of psychological distress
- Approach an at-risk student to provide appropriate support services
- Make a referral
Participants will engage in conversations with emotionally responsive virtual students that exhibit signs of psychological distress. They will practice using open-ended questions, reflective listening and other motivational interviewing techniques to effectively broach the topic of psychological distress and encourage students to seek help and avoid common pitfalls.
If a staff member engages with a student in distress, they should enlist the support of their school’s Student Support Team to make a referral.
Get Trained
To take the training, staff should:
- Visit Kognito and create new account (be sure to indicate Alexandria where prompted)
- Once logged in, select the appropriate training:
- At-Risk for Elementary
- At-Risk for Middle School
- At-Risk for High School
For recertification points, staff should also enroll in the Kognito course in PLMS – Course Code: 14917 or Section Code 17456
Upon Completion
Upon completion of the training, staff will receive a certificate of completion from Kognito. Copies of certificates should be given to your building principal. Principals should send copies of certificates to Melvin Orellana in the department of student services by January 5, 2018 so that completion and credit can be logged in PLMS. Participants will receive 1 recertification point once their certificate is received.